NOVEMBER 2006 RESONANCE ARTICLES

Pears / Warming Fall Spices / Sweeteners / Holiday Indigestion / Farm Sanctuary

PEARS
Pears are one of the more medicinal, commonly available fruits. Their primary site of action is the Lungs. Pears are cooling, moisten the Lungs and throat, and stop coughing. They can be eaten raw or cooked to alleviate most minor conditions of the Lungs and throat characterized by heat, dryness, tickling, phlegm, and coughing. A common Chinese home remedy for minor cough and sore throat is to cut a pear in half, scoop out the core, and fill it with a powdered herb mixture. This is baked or steamed, and then eaten. Because of the pleasant taste, it is a useful treatment for children. Anyone interested in this herb mixture can obtain it from the office.

WARMING FALL SPICES
Many of the common spices associated with fall cooking and baking are used as Chinese medicines. These include black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, and orange peel. With the exception of orange peel, they are all acrid in nature. Their temperature is either warm or hot, and they all benefit either the Spleen or the Stomach. Although they all have their own unique properties and functions, they can be used to impart a warming quality to foods. They may also be used alone as a tea for the same purpose. They help indigestion, nausea, vomiting, hiccup, diarrhea, and stomach pain that are caused by any combination of cold, Spleen deficiency, and phlegm. To learn more about the healing properties of individual foods, I recommend The Tao of Healthy Eating by Bob Flaws.

SWEETENERS
This is brief but seasonally necessary article, which I plan to expand upon in the next issue of this newsletter. It is intended to be practical advice for which types of sweeteners are best to use. I will follow up with a larger discussion of the Spleen and carbohydrates next time.

The sweeteners that I consider to be safe and healthful to use are agave, barley malt, honey, maple syrup, molasses, rice syrup, and Sucanat. These sweeteners can be used in place of conventional refined and artificial sweeteners, and my wife and I have not come across any situation where one of these will not work. If it is not on this list, I do not feel anyone should be eating it.

HOLIDAY INDIGESTION
Every year, from the end of October through the end of the year, I see many people in my practice who are suffering from digestive complaints. This arises from overeating, consuming too much sweets and alcohol, and eating improperly cooked meats. The solution for the first two is obvious, so I will comment briefly on the third cause.

With the high levels of bacterial contamination of meats these days, it is next to impossible to safely handle or prepare meats. Many of the symptoms which people credit to simple overeating are actually due to very mild food poisoning. There are many good books on this subject, including John Robbins’ The Food Revolution. This article on GoVeg.com provides a brief summary.

It is reasonable to assume if you can’t safely handle or cook a food, it might make you sick when you eat it. Using some of the spices listed in the Warming Fall Spices article is one way to aid digestion. Another is to use simple herbal preparations such as Curing Pills. This formula, and others like it, can be used either preventatively or curatively for symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, flatulence and belching, stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue after eating. This formula is available at the office, and from any Asian grocery store or pharmacy.

FARM SANCTUARY
Anyone who visits my office during the holiday season will see a photograph of a turkey sitting on the reception area filing cabinet. This is one of the adopted turkeys from Farm Sanctuary. Last year my wife and I “adopted” our first turkey. Farm Sanctuary cares for rescued farm animals who have found their way there, including turkeys. A small donation of $20 helps to provide food, shelter, and veterinary care for these animals.

During the holidays, Farm Sanctuary provides the turkeys with a holiday celebration. They get to receive a Thanksgiving meal, instead of being eaten for one. The event is an opportunity to educate the public about some of the issues of factory farming. This is a good organization that does a lot of good work. To find out more about adopting a turkey, visit the Adopt-A-Turkey website.